The Chicago White Sox confirmed Wednesday that left-hander Chris Sale will not be available for opening day after suffering an avulsion fracture in his right foot last month.
White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams said Sale will not return to baseball activities for at least 10 days, according to CSNChicago.com. The team’s opener is April 6 against the Kansas City Royals.
Sale was the White Sox’s opening-day starter each of the past two seasons. Right-hander Jeff Samardzija, who was 7-13 with a 2.99 ERA for the Oakland Athletics and Chicago Cubs in 2014, is likely to take Sale’s place for the opener. Samardzija has made two opening-day starts during his career.
Sale suffered the injury in a freak accident when he was unloading items from his truck after arriving for spring training. He is coming off a season in which he finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting after posting a 12-4 record with a 2.17 ERA in 174 innings.
Fantasy Update: Monitor Sale’s status going forward. No doubt he’s a top-flight fantasy stud, but a foot injury can bother a pitcher for a long time.